Letter of invitation from the Committee to Free the SASO 9: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This letter from the Committee to Free the SASO 9 invites people to an emergency meeting about the SASO 9. The letter is white with black text that reads: [June 4, 1976 / Dear Sister/Brother: / INVITATION TO AN EMERGENCY MEETING / The Committee to Free The SASO 9 (South African Students Organ-/ ization) is a group in the United States working to publicize / the plight of our sisters and brothers in South Africa who face / death by hanging if convicted. / Although the original number was nine who have been unjustly / jailed, it is now sixteen, and one member has been tortured to / death. Along with this, two members of SWAPO (South West African / Peoples Organization) in Namibia have been convicted and sentenced / to death by a South African Court. There are many thousands of / prisoners languishing in the jails of South Africa, Namibia and Rhodesia. / The Committee to Free The SAO 9 is calling an urgent meeting / on Wednesday June 9 at 7:00 P.M. The meeting will take place in / Manhattan at 605 West 115th Street, Room 418. / Some of our activities to publicize the trial of SAO, as well as / aid in the release from prison have been: picket lines at the / South African Airways, demonstrations, forums, poetry readings / and speaking engagements. / We in the Committee are urging you to attend as well as send / representatives of your organizations. Our task is to save the SWAPO 2 from hanging, aid in the freeing of the SASO members as / well as all prisoners of apartheid. / Volunteers and funds are urgently needed. / Yours In Struggle, John Akpan / Coordinator / Committee to Free the SASO Nine]. The back of the letter is blank.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: June 4, 1976
• Written by: Committee to Free the SASO 9, American
• Subject of: South African Student Organization, South African, 1968 - 1977
• Signed by: John Akpan
• Subject of: South African Student Organisation, South African, 1968 - 1977
• Type: letters (correspondence)
• Medium: ink on paper
• Dimensions: H x W: 11 × 8 1/2 in. (27.9 × 21.6 cm)
• Place used: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Place depicted: South Africa, Africa
• Place depicted: Zimbabwe, Africa
• Place depicted: Namibia, Africa
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Activism
• Topic: Africa
• Topic: Black power
• Topic: Correspondence
• Topic: Decolonization
• Topic: International affairs
• Topic: U.S. History, 1969-2001
• Object number: 2015.97.27.11
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The displayed image also has an explicit CC0 designation. The underlying object's rights statement is: No Known Copyright Restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.